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Last Updated: 2 Apr 2018 - 8:45:17 PM |
WELNIAK WINS INTO AN CHEATHRA RUA, CONNOR THIRD
By Shane Stokes
25 May 2006,
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Twenty-four hours after Ciar�n Power took the first home win of this year�s FBD Insurance R�s, Ireland Grant Thornton rider Ryan Connor went close to taking a stage victory when he finished third into An Cheathr� Rua.
Connor was clear for much of the stage in a long breakaway which opened up serious time on the main field, then went on ahead on the day�s category two climb of Seanafeistin. He broke clear with two riders from the Poland Legia Bazylisek team, Jaroslaw Welniak and Bartlomiej Matysiak, and reached the finish over a minute clear of the rest of the break.
Connor attacked several times on the run in to the line but the pooled strength and tactics of the Poles proved too much, with Welniak taking the stage and Matysiak placing second. Connor was next home, while Ray Clarke (Eireann) took fourth. Fellow Irishmen Mark Cassidy (Ireland SK) and Brian Kenneally (Meath MyHome.ie) were sixth and tenth, the latter moving from fourteenth to eighth in the general classification as a result.
Race leader Danny Pate (USA) and all of the main contenders finished in the main bunch, over four minutes behind the stage winner. David O�Loughlin (Ireland) remains his closest rival, lying just one second back, while Tommy Evans (Dublin Usher), Morten Hegreberg (Norway Sparebanken Vest), Kristian House (Britain Recycling.co.uk) and Simon Kelly (Ireland Murphy & Gunn/Newlyn Group) stay in the top six overall.
The race continues tomorrow with a team time trial and then an afternoon road race stage.
How it unfolded:
Today�s fifth day of the 2006 FBD Insurance R�s saw an improvement in weather, with brighter conditions and a slight increase in temperature for the riders as they set off from Kilrush. The 179 kilometre route took them to An Cheathr� Rua via places such as Lahinch, Ennistymon, Lisdoonwarna, Kinvara, Galway and Oughterard. The riders would then tackle the day�s sole categorised climb, the category 2 ascent of Seanafeistin.
There was an aggressive start to the stage and after about twelve kilometres, a group of ten riders broke the elastic and went clear. They were Robert Partridge (Britain Recycling.co.uk), Ryan Connor (Ireland Grant Thornton), Mark Cassidy (Ireland M. Donnelly Sean Kelly), Ryan Connor (Ireland Stevens), Are Andresen (Norway Sparebanken Vest), Michal Pawlyta (Poland Legia Bazylisek), Jaroslaw Welniak (Poland Legia Bazylisek), Lucas Euser (USA TIAA CREF), Stephen O�Sullivan (Meath MyHome.ie Cycleways) and Ray Clarke (�ireann Dan Morrissey). They quickly built a good lead.
Mark Lovatt (Britain Doncaster Stena Line) tried to bridge with Gordon Tangney (Dublin Wheelers All Systems), Daire O�Sullivan (Kildare Ena Loakman Remax) and Mehall Fitzgerald (Meath MyHome.ie Cyclways) but were unable to do so. After 39 kilometres of racing the gap was a healthy 1 minute and 17 seconds as the riders headed for the surfing haven of Lahinch.
Dieter Droger (Britain Doncaster Stena Line) tried to get across soon afterwards but was recaptured by the bunch, which was 1 minute and 30 seconds back at this point.
Joshua Marden (Australia FRF Couriers Caravel), Bartlomiej Matysiak (Poland Legia Bazylisek) and Brian Kenneally (Meath MyHome.ie Cycleways.com) then attacked and, 50 kilometres into the stage, were 1 minute and 5 seconds behind the break. They gradually drew closer and once past the twisting, serpentine descent of Corkscrew hill, joined up with the ten leaders.
Lovatt was trying again but was over two minutes behind at this point. Llewellyn Byrne (Yorkshire JE James RT) was a minute further back while the main field had a major stall before the descent, allowing the gap to the leaders to shoot right up.
Simon Kelly (Ireland Murphy & Gunn/Newlyn Group), who started the stage sixth overall, and Craig Sweetman (Meath M. Donnelly) set off in pursuit. They were joined by 11 others and then caught Llewellyn Byrne. However the bunch was building speed once more and both this group and the individual chaser Lovatt were swallowed up. They were a considerable 4 minutes and 50 seconds back at this point.
Shortly after Kinvara (89.9 km), twelve riders then tried to bridge the gap. They were Peter McDonald (Australia FRF Couriers Caravel), Micheal Concannon (Ireland M. Donnelly Sean Kelly), Brandon Crichton (Canada Symmetrics), Johannes Sickm�ller (Germany Stevens), Paul Healion (Ireland Murphy & Gunn/Newlyn Group), Martin Prazdnovsky (Norway Sparebanken Vest), Lukasz Modzelewski (Poland Legia Bazylisek), Przemyslaw Pietrzak (Poland Legia Bazylisek), Dan Bowman (USA TIAA-CREF), Bryan Keane (Dublin Wheelers All Systems), Mick Steed (Kildare Murphy Surveyors) and Rory Wyley (�ireann Dan Morrissey), and were at 3 minutes and 33 seconds going through Clarinbridge (101.7 km).
The main bunch had stalled yet again and were 6 minutes and 54 seconds back at this point. Kenneally had started the day best placed overall of those in the break, lying 14th at 7 minutes and 47 seconds in the general classification, and soon got very close to being the race leader on the road. This prompted an acceleration behind and the gap then started to come back down.
At the feedzone (69 km) the twelve chasers were 4 minutes and 2 seconds back and the bunch 6 minutes and 25 seconds down. Lovatt was leading the chase, along with former yellow jersey Mike Friedman, Conor Murphy and Roger Aiken. The latter duo had their team-mate Connor up the road so their goal was to control the bunch and to bring the gap to a more manageable level, rather than bring the peloton back to the leaders.
Things continued in this way for quite some time and after 128 kilometres the chasers were slightly closer, 3 minutes and 35 seconds back. The bunch was 5 minutes and 38 seconds in arrears and, approximately ten kilometres later, they had brought back the pursuing twelve riders.
At Oughterard, 145 kilometres into the stage and 33 from the finish, the bunch were 4 minutes and 10 seconds back. Three kilometres later the leaders raced on to the lower slopes of the day�s sole categorised climb, the second cat ascent of Seanafeistin, and there Ryan Connor (Ireland Grant Thornton), Jaroslaw Welniak (Poland Legia Bazylisek) and Lucas Euser (USA TIAA-CREF) surged clear. Welniak led Connor and Euser over the top, with Matysiak in pursuit. Schroder and Andresen were further back, as were the remnants of the break.
After the top, the road dropped down towards the finish but it was a difficult descent. There were several uphill ramps and this led to a reshuffle, with Ryan Connor, Bartlomiej Matysiak and Jaroslaw Welniak pressing on ahead and Euser slipping back to chase with Robert Partridge, Joshua Marden, Mark Cassidy, Florian Schroder, Are Andresen, Brian Kenneally and Ray Clarke.
Stage 3 winner Marden had punctured but got back on. The eight chasers were 28 seconds in arrears, while the bunch was a considerable 4 minutes and 20 seconds back.
Connor was aiming for the stage win and attacked several times on the run-in to An Cheathr� Rua, but with two team-mates it was always going to be a difficult task. Welniak seemed to be the weaker of the two, dropping back slightly due to the Ireland Stena Line rider�s accelerations, but his team-mate sat on and this enable him to get back on.
Connor jumped hard with 250 metres to go but he was covered by both, Welniak and Matysiak coming off his wheel and finishing in that order. Meanwhile Ray Clarke had clipped away from the chasers with about six kilometres remaining and hit the line 1 minute and 23 seconds behind the stage winner. Marden took fifth, 6 seconds later, while Cassidy outsprinted Partridge, Schroder and Andersen for sixth. Kenneally finished another three seconds back in tenth place and Euser trailed in over a minute later.
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Some pictures of today's stage taken by Paul Cooley
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| Today's stage of the FBD Insurance Rás - Picture courtesy of Paul Cooley |
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| Today's stage of the FBD Insurance Rás - Picture courtesy of Paul Cooley |
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| Today's stage of the FBD Insurance Rás - Picture courtesy of Paul Cooley |
FBD Insurance R�s stage 5, Kilrush � An Cheathr� Rua (provisional results):
1, Jaroslaw Welniak (Poland Legia Bazylisek) 4 hours 18 mins 57 secs
2, Bartlomiej Matysiak (Poland Legia Bazylisek) at 1 sec
3, Ryan Connor (Ireland Grant Thornton) at 3 secs
4, Ray Clarke (�ireann Dan Morrissey) at 1 min 23 secs
5, Joshua Marden (Australia FRF Couriers Caravel) at 1 min 29 secs
6, Mark Cassidy (Ireland M. Donnelly Sean Kelly) at 1 min 31 secs
7, Robert Partridge (Britain Recycling.co.uk)
8, Florian Schroder (Germany Stevens)
9, Are Andresen (Norway Sparebanken Vest) all same time
10, Brian Kenneally (Meath MyHome.ie) at 1 min 34 secs
General classification:
1, Danny Pate (USA TIAA-CREF) 20 hours 12 mins 51 secs
2, David O�Loughlin (Ireland Grant Thornton) at 1 sec
3, Tommy Evans (Dublin Usher) at 7 secs
4, Morten Hegreberg (Norway Sparebanken Vest) same time
5, Kristian House (Britain Recycling.co.uk) at 15 secs
6, Simon Kelly (Ireland Murphy & Gunn/Newlyn Group) at 1 min
7, Peter Herzig (Australia FRF Couriers Caravel) at 1 min 16 secs
8, Brian Kenneally (Meath MyHome.ie) at 1 min 40 secs
9, Wayne Randle (Britain Doncaster Stena Line) at 1 min 45 secs
10, Are Andresen (Norway Sparebanken Vest) at 5 mins 45 secs
Points:
1, Chris Newton (Britain Recycling.co.uk) 39 points
2, Tommy Evans (Dublin Usher) 39
3, Morten Hegreberg (Norway Sparebanken Vest) 35
Mountains:
1, Peter Herzig (Australia FRF Couriers Caravel) 52
2, Ciaran Power (�ireann Dan Morrissey) 42
3, Lukasz Modzelewski (Poland Legia Bazylisek) 23
Ben McKenna Trophy for under 23 riders:
1, Bartlomiej Matysiak (Poland Legia Bazylisek) 20 hours 19 mins 31 secs
2, Pa�di O�Brien (Ireland Grant Thornton) at 1 min 11 secs
3, Robert Partridge (Britain Recycling.co.uk) at 1 min 16 secs
IMAGES COPYRIGHT:
Any images included in this article remain the property of the photographer, by whom all rights are retained, 2006 �. Use of images for electronic or print purposes is may be possible with the express, written permission of the photographer.
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